Ryan satisfied with five points

The British

& Irish Lions

Tour to New Zealand 2017

Ryan satisfied with five points

Six tries and a bonus-point Heineken Cup win gave Gloucester director of rugby Dean Ryan plenty to cheer about on Saturday afternoon.

The Cherry and Whites ran out 48-5 winners against Italian champions Calvisano at Kingsholm to keep in touch with Pool 6 leaders Cardiff Blues and Ryan was happy with the outcome.

"When we lost at Cardiff we had to make sure that we kept winning with bonus points," said Ryan, whose side were knocked out by Munster at the quarter-final stages of last year's competition.

"Our decision making was a step up from last week. We played significantly better and so did Calvisano."

Having won 40-19 in Italy last Saturday, Gloucester made it three Heineken Cup victories so far this season thanks to first-half scores from Mark Foster and Luke Narraway, along with a brace of tries from both Lesley Vainikolo and Matthew Watkins in the second period.

Despite the comfortable scoreline, Ryan admits that it was a far from easy run out for the joint leaders of the Guinness Premiership.

"I knew that they would come and make it hard for us," added Ryan.

"They wouldn't turn up and just lie down and that's how it proved.

"I knew that we were making them work hard in the first half so we would get the dividends late on."